Dark Room
by Senshi Sun
Summary: AU. A baby-like eleven-year-old Harry has lived his entire life in one room. The only person who knows of his existence is Big Man, who despises him but still takes care of him. When stranger enters Harry's room and starts being kind to him, the boy begins to learn about the world, himself, and the destiny he must fulfil.
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Note: This is based on the "The Basement" challenge by Krysy Winters. The title and main style choice are based on the book "Room" by Emma Donoghue.

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I have always lived in one room. It is a cold, dark room. The floor is sticky. The walls are hard. The walls crumble in rooms sometimes. Sometimes liquid drips out a round thing in the ceiling. I drink the liquid to get rid of the thirsty feeling.

The room is mostly black and gray. There are only colours when Light comes out one wall. Then I can see there is brown and yellow on the floor. There is some blue on the wall near Light.

Light coming through means Big Man is there. He blocks out some Light with his bigness. He yells out some words to me. Sometimes he throws food. The food is rough on the outside and soft in the middle and in a square-ish shape. It tastes wet some days and hard other days. Sometimes there is other stuff on food. I like the soft, sticky, sweet stuff best. Food always gets red of the hungry feeling. Other times Big Man does not throw food. It is mean to not throw food.

Big Man thinks it is funny when he does not throw food. I know because Big Man always laughs a mean laugh. I do not like Big Man.

I can see some shapes in this room. The shapes I see with my eyes are not like the shapes I see with my hands. The shapes I see with my hands are the same. The shapes I see with my eyes always change. I see with my hands more often than with my eyes. Big Man does not like it when I try to see him with my hands. He kicks me if I touch him.

The corner across from the light is the Crinkle Corner. I call it the Crinkle Corner because it crinkles when I move there. Crinkle corner is white with black, yellow, and brown smudges. I have to relive myself in the Crinkle Corner or Big Man hits me. The Crinkle Corner gets stinky and less crinkly after a while. Big Man makes the Crinkle Corner crinkly again every seven sleeps.

I sleep in the corner furthest from the Crinkle Corner. The air is warmer and less stinky there. I curl up into a ball to sleep there. Some nights the air is very warm, and I sleep well. Other nights the air is chilly. I shiver until I fall asleep then. The heat of the air helps me tell the season. Right now it is the end of the Hot Season.

There is not much to do in this room. I can eat food. I can use Crinkle Corner. I can sleep. I can listen to voices when they are loud. There are usually three voices, sometimes more. There is Big Man's low voice, a high-pitched voice, and a voice in the middle. I do not understand them, except when they say "no". The voices say "no" a lot, and Big Man says "no" most often. The other voices are rare. They do not last long. I think Big Man scares them away. Once I tried to add my own loudness. I hit my hands on the door where Light comes. It made a "boom" sound. Big Man did not like the "boom" sound. He came to this room just to hurt me. I was in hurt for a long time.

The only other thing I can do in this room is think. Sometimes I think of this room exactly. I think about the changing shapes. I think about colours. I think about Light signaling food. I wonder about where Light goes when it is not here. I think of hard food, soggy food, and liquid coming from the shiny round thing in the ceiling. I think about Big Man not liking me, and wonder if I can make him like me. I think about the world beyond room. It must be a scary place since Big Man always keeps me here. Thinking about this room exactly makes me sad.

I usually think about this room, but with changes. I wish that Big Man would always throw food when Light comes. I wish I could change Crinkle Corner on my own. I wish Big Man would not hurt me. I wish I could make this world real.

But that room is always in my head. It always will be.

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**Author's Notes:** I hope you find this story as interesting to read as it was for me to write. I know Harry's world may seem a bit confusing now, but as it is explored both in and out of the narrative, it should become clearer.

**Next Chapter Quote:** "The stranger is much nicer than Big Man, I realize."

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**Questions & Answers**

(Hold on! There aren't any questions yet. You can ask questions in your review, and if I think they're helpful, I'll post them at the bottom of the next chapter.)


	2. who's this?

This day starts like any other. I wake up a few minutes before Light comes out and Big Man yells some words. He throws the food at my head, and it bounces off. I rush over to get it. It does not take long to find. The food is harder on the inside and plain. I do not like the food, but I eat it all anyway. Big Man will not bring me more food until much later.

I hear the medium-pitched voice screaming a while later. He quiets down fairly quickly. I wonder what he was angry about. Maybe he dropped his food where he couldn't get it?

Everything quiets down after that. There is a rumbling sound. That sound means someone is leaving the house. Big Man takes one rumbling sound, and the person with the medium voice takes the other sound. The person with the higher-pitched voice stays behind all day. If I listen real close I can hear her humming or talking while she works. She doesn't yell as much.

I sit and think in my room until it's almost food time again. Then I hear Big Man yelling. There are quiet parts in between Big Man's screams. Somebody else must be talking to him. Is it the person with the high-pitched voice? Or is it someone temporary?

I hear some thuds from pushing and shoving and begin to get real interested. Big Man does not usually hurt people other than me. I hear a voice between Big Man's yelling now. It is a temporary person.

The temporary person does not leave. He does not make his voice loud often. Big Man is constantly yelling. I am more interested now. The temporary person is very resilient. Most people would leave after so much yelling.

Finally, the temporary person makes Big Man be quiet. The temporary person is using the same sound of voice as when Big Man tells me it's food time. I don't think somebody has to feed Big Man. I guess the temporary person could want something.

I hear four feet pounding down the stairs. Twice as many as usual. The temporary person must be following him. I move closer to the door. That way I can get my food faster.

The wall opens up without a sound, and Light floods the room. It's so bright sitting right in front of the wall! I have to cover my eyes with my hands. The temporary person gasps. Big Man says his line. I try to peek through my fingers to find the food. There is nothing there. Did he trick me?

Big Man makes a growling sound and I look up. I can see Big Man is standing in a weird way. His back is against the wall's edge and his arms are up. I can see my food in his hand. The temporary person blurs into Big Man's shape. I squint to see what he is doing. The temporary person's voice is very quiet.

Big Man says "no" a few times.

Suddenly, the temporary person throws Big Man aside. Big Man falls to the ground, making a thud sound. I can tell the temporary man is taller than Big Man. Big Man is wider.

This temporary person is not so temporary anymore. He comes down the last of the stairs and Big Man groans. The new person is in my room. This person just hurt Big Man. I cannot hide my fear.

I crawl as far away from Light as I can. I curl into a ball and cover my face with my hands. He can't see me that way. But he might see me anyway because he is so strong.

I try not to think about that. I think about the food I should be getting. The stronger man has the food now. I think he will eat it all. He won't leave a crumb for me.

My stomach starts to hurt when I think of that.

Stronger Man isn't leaving. I can hear him shuffling around and making low-pitched sounds. I peek through my fingers at him. My eyes are still adjusting after the Light, but I can hear him tapping on the food.

He is going to eat it all. This makes me angry. I don't want to confront the man that hurt Big Man. A man that can hurt Big Man could kill me. I can still hear the stronger man. He is making longer, quiet sounds. It is much nicer than Big Man's yelling. I think he is talking, but I don't know what he is saying.

My eyes finish adjusting. I slowly turn back around. Stronger Man is lower to the ground, like me. I can see the round shape of the food in his hand. He hasn't eaten any yet. I tilt my head and try to understand why. Maybe Stronger Man ate already.

Or maybe he's tricking me. Just like Big Man. He'll wait for me to come to the bread and steal it from me at the last second. I'm not falling for that. I may be a lot but I'm not gullible.

So I start to crawl into the corner. I don't want to turn around now. This man could attack me at any time. My eyes keep looking at the food in his hand. I try to tell myself I am not hungry.

My growly stomach disagrees.

Stronger Man seems to be scared by my stomach's growly noises. I can tell because he flinches when he hears them. I know I need food. If I don't get food soon I'll be very dizzy. Stronger Man looks at the bread. Then he looks at me. He lifts the food up in his hands and tears off a piece. He puts the piece on the floor.

I refuse to fall for that trap. I stay put.

Stronger Man backs away. My stomach growls again and I start to get dizzy. I rush to eat the piece of food. Stronger Man mutters something in a higher-pitched tone. He tears off another piece. It is a bit bigger than the last one. He pushes it towards me. I wait a second, then eat it. Maybe he wants me to have it. But why?

Stronger Man keeps taking pieces of food and putting them in front of me. I eat each one carefully. I do not want to trust him. Stronger Man gets down to the last piece of food. He puts it down slowly. I move to eat it. My head bumps something soft.

I look up. Stronger Man is sitting right in front of me. I whimper and scamper back to the corner. Stronger Man wants me to come back, but I do not. I know he will hurt me if I do.

Stronger Man leaves after a long time. I am alone in my room again.

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Sorry about the upload issues! I think this'll fix it.


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